News in gay Atlanta of a drug that can eradicate previously incurable
Hepatitis-C in 99 percent of cases was tainted last week by the state
picking and choosing who can get it, excluding thousands of HIV-positive
patients. It’s renewed a clarion call by activists to expand Medicaid.

The 12-week drug regimen known as V-Pak works, but it’s expensive –
as much as $80,000 per patient. The National Alliance of State and
Territorial AIDS Directors, which includes Georgia, negotiated a
discount to about half price, but each state must decide whether or not
to offer it under various programs.

In Georgia, that meant Hepatitis C patients under Medicaid will get
V-Pak. But HIV-positive people with Hep C on ADAP, the HIV prescription
assistance program, can’t. State agencies say they’re hamstrung by the
cost to offer life-saving treatment to some and deny it to others, according to WABE.